I remember being as excited as ever to see the New York Mets play during the 1989 season. After watching them dominate as they did during the regular season a year earlier, it seemed as if they had some unfinished business. The Mets were coming off a National League Championship Series in which they were heavily favorited against the Los Angeles Dodgers. The Mets had won ten of eleven during their regular season series against the Dodgers, but managed to run into a very good pitcher pitching at his most dominant point of his career in Orel Hershiser. There was then a series changing Game Four home run that came from an unexpected source in veteran catcher Mike Scioscia. As Hershiser shut the Mets out in Game Seven to end their season, I struggled to believe how a team like the Mets, a team with so much depth and talent, could drop a series to a team which did not seem to be as talented on paper. I was only eight at the time, and this was one of a bunch of lessons I would learn about the game of baseball over the course of the next several years. As I just mentioned, the New York Mets of this period seemed to have so much depth at every position. And it also did not seem that it was all veteran players. Young position players were now in the mix such as Gregg Jefferies, Dave Magadan, and Barry Lyons. Jefferies was expected to be a regular player in 1989 pretty similar to the way Kevin Elster became the regular shortstop in 1988. The Mets decided to trade veteran second baseman Wally Backman to the Minnesota Twins to clear some room on the roster. The only semi-notable addition the Mets made in the 1988 off season was to sign former All Star reliever Don Aase as a free agent from the Baltimore Orioles. Two things stand out about that season that I would learn later on. The first of which I did not understand until later on which led into the second lesson. The Mets seemed to have a lot of depth on a team which, for the most part, had proven to win together. Though there had been some changes from the roster from the World Series Championship team from 1986, the majority of the key contributors remained from that team. General Manager Frank Cashen made a complete shock of a trade on June 18th of that season. He dealt center fielder Lenny Dykstra and relief pitcher Roger McDowell to the Philadelphia Phillies in exchange for second baseman Juan Samuel. Samuel had played center field during the 1989 season and was expected to do the same with the Mets. Samuel had been a two time All Star with the Phillies and had a track record of being one of the better all around players in the National League. But he had come off a very down season in 1988 and had become a defensive liability at second base, leading to his move to the outfield. Of course, Dykstra and McDowell were fan favorites, but additionally, it just did not seem like Samuel was worth both of those players in return. The Mets were now down a starting outfielder and a top relief pitcher and the it was fair to question whether Samuel would ever return to the player he was a couple years earlier. This point was ascertained at the time the trade was announced. What was not spoken about until later on was the fact that Jefferies was a player that caused a lot of tension on the team. As several veterans would later state, it was not the fact that Jefferies burst on the scene during the final month of the 1988 season. It was his attitude and the fact that he carried with him a sense of entitlement. The fact that manager Davey Johnson seemed to favor him a little bit added to the divide, a divide that started before the postseason of 1988. Later on during the 1991 season, Jefferies would write an open letter to his teammates, criticizing them for their treatment of him over the past three years. Perhaps it was just as simple as Jefferies being a polarizing player that needed to learn how to get along with his teammates. Was Jefferies the reason Cashen traded Dykstra and McDowell? The last game of the 1990 season would later end with Jefferies grounding out to end the game against the Phillies with McDowell on the mound. McDowell said some words and Jefferies would charge the mound. Does that mean the Mets chose Jefferies over McDowell and Dykstra? The 1989 Mets were an underachieving team, but more importantly, they were missing key players for long periods of time. First baseman Keith Hernandez was limited to 75 games and catcher Gary Carter played in just 50 games. All Star pitcher Dwight Gooden was out due to a shoulder injury. The Mets still had starting pitchers David Cone, Ron Darling, Bob Ojeda, and Sid Fernandez, but Cashen felt the need to make a trade for former Cy Young Award winner Frank Viola. Viola did not come cheap as the Mets traded away reliever Rick Aguilera as well as top pitching prospects David West and Kevin Tapani to the Twins.As stated in his book, Mookie Wilson was fed up with his playing time situation. He thought the trade of Dykstra would allow for the opportunity to play everyday, something that never materialized. He also resented sitting on the bench in favor of Samuel, who he felt was an inferior player. And the numbers said Wilson was right. To appease Wilson, Cashen dealt him to the Toronto Blue Jays for relief pitcher Jeff Musselman. The Mets bullpen, once considered a strength because of its depth, only essentially contained Randy Myers as McDowell and Aguilera were now traded. Flanking starting outfielders Kevin McReynolds and Darryl Strawberry was just Samuel, who by this time had shown his 1988 decline was real. Gooden, Hernandez, and Carter would all return, but the team was just not the same. The Mets would miss out on the playoffs in 1989, finishing five games behind the first place Chicago Cubs. Hernandez and Carter were given ovations in their final games at Shea Stadium, essentially meaning that neither would play another game for the team. The next season, the Mets would look a little different after trading Samuel to the Dodgers for first baseman Mike Marshall and reliever Alejandro Pena. Cashen then traded Myers to the Reds for John Franco, a pitcher who would spent the next 14 years in New York with the Mets. The overcrowded starting rotation would result in one starter being left out. It started out being Ojeda, then became Darling after Ron got off to a slow start. It resulted in both pitchers being unhappy and later on being traded, first with Ojeda in the 1990 off season, then Darling during the 1991 season. Strawberry left as a free agent after 1990 and Jefferies, McReynolds, and Keith Miller were dealt to the Kansas City Royals after the 1991 season. The 1992 Mets would become the worst team money could buy after the signings of free agents Vince Coleman (for the 1991 season), Bobby Bonilla, and Eddie Murray. Bret Saberhagen came over in the Royals deal to replace Viola, who signed with the Boston Red Sox as a free agent.Hindsight says Cashen should not have broken the 1989 team apart. That being said, Hernandez' career was finished and Carter would spend three seasons as a back up catcher before retiring himself. The Viola deal made them a little better, but the Samuel trade for Dykstra and McDowell was completely unnecessary. It led to the Wilson deal and the next season the Mets did not have a center fielder, with all due respect to Darryl Boston. I wonder out loud what the Mets could have been if they had not made the Samuel trade. Watching the Phillies make it to the World Series in 1993 makes he wonder what the Mets could have been if they still had Dykstra. Of course, would that have meant the trade of Jefferies, and if it did, would they have been able to keep the other players they ended up dealing and losing to free agency? I know Dykstra was on steroids, but it would have been great to see him playing his best for the Mets in the 1990's. And there will always be the wonder of how Strawberrry's Mets career would have finished out had he not left after the 1990 season to sign with the Dodgers.

Jordany Valdespin gained a minor cult like following after he had some success during the 2012 season. I got to see Valdespin for a couple spring trainings before he made his MLB debut. I also watched him play a couple seasons in AA Binghamton. A line drive hitter with some speed, he never seemed like he could play SS at the MLB level. But he could hit. If you have followed Jordany Valdespin over the past couple of seasons, you know there have been several up and downs. Mostly downs. The guy does have talent, but not enough of it has shown through for him to establish himself as a big league player. And of course, the clubhouse and personality issues have drawn more attention than his play on the baseball field. Valdespin's performance over the past season made it easy for the Mets to cut bait with him. In addition to his issues with the Mets authority and manager Terry Collins, Valdespin also rubbed his teammates the wrong way. He was not liked in the clubhouse. Two major times stand out. When he hit a walk-off grand slam, he was nearly punched out during his postgame interview with a pie from then Mets catcher John Buck. And of course, we all know about the time he admired a home run against the Pirates while the game was out of reach. When Pirates RHP Bryan Morris drilled him the next day, the team did nothing to either retaliate or back him up. When he was removed from the team's 40 man roster last month, it rid the team from a player they no longer wanted. But it also released Valdespin from a place he no longer wanted to be. Valdespin signed a minor league contract with the Miami Marlins, one that does not include a major league camp invite. Personally I wish him well and hope he eventually enjoys some big league success. During the 1988 season, the Mets were well on their way to another NL East title. Many say, including myself, that the 1988 Mets team was the best team they ever assembled, top to bottom. On August 28, 1988, the Mets brought up a 20 year old infielder named Gregg Jefferies, who would start 29 of the team's 32 games to finish the season hitting .321 in 109 ABs. Jefferies would play all 7 games of the Mets/ Dodgers NLCS at 3B, moving starting 3B Howard Johnson to SS in a bold move. Jefferies managed to hit .333 that series (9-27) batting second in the team's lineup all series. The one similarity Jefferies and Valdespin had was the fact they both rubbed their teammates the wrong way. There are no other similarities, as Jefferies was extremely talented and would become a staple in the Mets lineup until he was traded to Kansas City after the 1991 season. But, before Jefferies was finally moved out of town, he may have singlehandedly taken down the team which was on a serious run when he joined it. The team chose to trade RHP Roger McDowell, whom Jefferies had never gotten along with, along with Lenny Dykstra to the Phillies for Juan Samuel in 1989. Dykstra, years later, accused Jefferies as being the player who destroyed the team, adding that he felt the Mets cho6se him over the rest of that team. Lets say Valdespin was the real deal. At this moment, he is not, but many believed he could have become a regular on this team last season. What if that happened? Lets say Jordany became the Mets everyday CF. (Lets also assume he couldn't play SS on a regular basis at the MLB level.) What if he had a 1988 Jefferies like run? Maybe got 400 ABs and hit something like .300, .325, 450. (Remember Valdespin is not a real OBP guy.) Lets assume he hit 30 2B, 9 3B, 15 HR and drove in 60 runs, scoring 60 more. At this point, fans would be going nuts, especially with little else to root for. It would be a cult following, but the same issues would exist in the clubhouse. Is there a weird scenario where the Mets of now would choose to build a team around a player like that? Because they made that decision with Jefferies from 1989-1991. An easy decision to make now, especially with hindsight telling us that Valdespin can't cut it at the MLB level and his 50 game suspension for his involvement with biogenesis. But what if he was as good as Jefferies was?

It was just couple years ago that Nyjer Morgan was dancing around, yelling F-bombs into the live television camera, after the Milwaukee Brewers beat the Arizona Diamondbacks in a NLDS showdown. Of course, the Brewers made it to the NLCS against the St Louis Cardinals. The two teams developed a small rivalry as Morgan made comments saying along the lines that the Cardinals will not made the playoffs. And of course, the Cardinals would beat the Brewers to capture the NL Pennant and eventually win the World Series over the Texas Rangers. Morgan probably had his best season in 2011, hitting .304, 4, 37 with 17 steals in 119 games. Morgan had joined the Brewers after wearing out his welcome because of his attitude in Washington. The Brewers had gotten him in a trade for Cutter Dykstra (Lenny's son). Among Morgan's most notable moments involved running into catcher Brett Hayes of the Marlins for no reason then charging the mound after being hit in retaliation for the second time. For the 2011 season, using Morgan in CF was the best option for the Brewers. Carlos Gomez had struggled since coming over from Minnesota in the trade for SS JJ Hardy. His .224, 8, 24 in 94 games with just 16 steals made it easy for manager Ron Roenicke to play Morgan the majority of the time, including against some right handed pitchers. Gomez was a centerpiece in the trade that brought Johan Santana to the Mets. Converted reliever Deolis Guerra remains as the only hope for the Twins to salvage something out of that trade. In spite of 2008 and the no hitter, most Mets fans agree that the trade did not work out for them as well. The Brewers decided to add to the competition in CF by signing Japanese OF Norhika Aoki. Aoki would end up playing RF after RF Corey Hart moved to 1B after the injury to top prospect Mat Gamel. So, Gomez and Morgan once again patrolled CF for the Crew. This time the results were different as Gomez started to emerge as an everyday player. Carlos had a breakout season, hitting .260, 19, 51 with 37 steals putting Morgan's true value to the team in perspective. One of the big stories of this season has been Gomez, who currently leads the NL in batting average (.373), OPS (1.073) and OPS+ (184). Morgan, who was non tendered by the Brewers after last season, is now playing for the Yokohama Bay Stars of the Japanese Central League and is not necessarily tearing it up. He is hitting just .156 (7-45) with 0 SB and an OPS of .433. There is a good possibility that Gomez has arrived, as some players take a little time to develop at the MLB level. And we all known @TheRealTPlush is due for problematic breakdown any day. Good riddance! Not a surprise to see Gomez playing his best without Morgan in the picture.

Two days ago (April 25, 2013), Rick Camp passed away of natural causes at age 60. May he rest in peace. Camp pitched several years for the Atlanta Braves but will always be remembered for his role in the Mets 16-13, 19 inning thriller in which he hit a two out, two strike home run to left field to tie the game in the 18th inning. Camp was not a good hitting pitcher, but had to bat since the Braves had nobody left on their bench to hit. The Braves, just like the Mets, had considered the game over with no thought about a 19th inning. His moment will be talked about forever even though he would give up 5 runs in the top of the 19th to allow the Mets to win. Camp was the last man in the Atlanta bullpen that night, July 4, 1985. Camp would make 66 appearances for the Braves that season, just 2 as a starting pitcher. Camp had spent a significant part of the 1982-1984 seasons starting games for the Braves after pitching primarily in relief for them from 1976-1978. His best seasons were as a reliever for the Braves in 1980 and 1981. In 1980, he was 6-4, 1.91, 22 saves in 77 games and he followed that up by going 9-3, 1.78, 17 saves for the Braves in the strike shortened 1981 season. All in all, Camp would spend his entire 10 year career with the Braves. The game was interesting enough since it was on the 4th of July and a fireworks display was to follow completion of the game. Dwight Gooden, in the middle of his 24-4 season, got the start for the Mets while Rick Mahler started for the Braves. The Mets came into the game at 40-35 and the Braves were just 34-41. Len Dykstra CF, Wally Backman 2B, Keith Hernandez 1B, Darryl Strawberry RF, Gary Carter C, George Foster LF, Ray Knight 3B, Rafael Santana SS vs Claudell Washington RF, Rafael Ramirez SS, Dale Murphy CF, Bob Horner 1B, Terry Harper LF, Ken Oberkfell 3B, Rick Cerone C, Glenn Hubbard 2B. The game got off to an interesting start as both starters struggled with their control. Gooden walked 4 and was taken out in the 3rd inning with the game tied at 1. Of course, the long rain delay was the reason Gooden was taken out and replaced by Roger McDowell. Mahler was removed the following inning after the Mets scored 4 times against Mahler and reliever Jeff Dedmond. After the Braves scored another run, the Mets ran their lead to 7-4 going into the bottom of the 8th. Jesse Orosco would procede to struggle, giving up a run before the Braves loaded the bases and Doug Sisk came in. Sisk would promptly allow all three inherited runners to score, giving the Braves the lead again. The Mets would tie the game in the top of the 9th against Bruce Sutter. To this point, the crowd had already gotten its money's worth and I am sure would have not minded going home. Sisk and Terry Forster would throw scoreless ball for the next 7 half innings, taking the game into the 13th inning. Knight would get a two out single and Howard Johnson would hit a 2 run HR to give the Mets the lead. But reliever Tom Gorman would give up a 2 out- 2 run HR to Harper to tie the game again. After that, Gorman for the Mets and Gene Garber and Camp for the Braves would combine to keep each other off the boards for the next 4 innings. Camp's error on a bunt led to a Mets run in the 18th inning. This leads to the improbable moment where Camp hits the miraculous HR off Gorman to tie the game. However, it was obvious that Camp used all his energy on his only MLB HR as he gave up 5 ER in the 19th inning. Ron Darling came in to finish the game off, but he had his struggles as well. A 1 out error by Hernandez, followed by back to back two out walks loading the bases. Harper, who had tied the game in the 13th, singled in two to make the game 16-13. The next batter was no one other than Camp, once again representing the tying run. Instead of the Mets PA announcer announcing "pitcher Rick Camp", he called out "slugger Rick Camp". With 2 strikes, Camp took the biggest swing of his entire career. Unfortunately, he came away empty as Darling got him on strikes to end the game. More interesting facts on this game. Rusty Staub came up as a pinch hitter in the 19th inning, as he for some reason was still available, and drew a walk, scoring one of the 19th inning runs. Strawberry and Davey Johnson were ejected in the 17th inning for arguing balls and strikes. The Braves manager was none other than Eddie Haas, his only season as a big league manager. Hass was fired later in the season and replaced by Bobby Wine. With Camp's passing, he became the 3rd member of the Braves 1985 pitching staff to die joining Mahler (2005) and Pascual Perez (2012). After Camp retired, he became a farmer and eventually a state lobbyist. He would spend three years in prison from 2005-2008 for conspiring to steal over $2 million from a hospital in Georgia. In spite of that and his good career he had with the Braves, his home run will always stand out and will remain one of the most shocking moments in regular season history. And yes, when the game ended (at 3:55 am), fireworks were let off as the fans were promised.

Most Mets fans remember the colorful voice of legendary announcer Bob Murphy. Murphy, who would be 88 today if he were still alive, was one of the original New York Mets broadcasters in 1962, remaining the lead radio voice until September of 2003. He retired after the 2003 season. One thing I remember is how little it was reported when Murph died the next summer, August 4, 2004. Of course, Gary Cohen and Howie Rose spent some time remembering their times with him, but I don't think it got the national attention it deserved.

As the Mets are playing out the string of another forgetable season, think no further than Bob Murphy calling the Mets games with the same tone whether they won or lost. Yes, he'd throw out the "Happy Recap" after every win and just "recap" after a loss, but his mood never changed during a broadcast or a long season. I am not old enough to recall watching or listening to Murph call games in the early 1960s when the team was worse than ever, but remembering his tone in the early 1990s made the games enjoyable to listen to. I would tend to forget the place in the standings and exactly how bad the Mets were from 1992-1995. Even the Mets of 2003 did not seem as bad as they were listening to him. That takes us to the state of the team right now. I'm sure if Bob Murphy was still broadcasting the games today, even he'd be disappointed in effort that the team is showing when they are at bat. He'd definitely make the listener feel comfortable, but even he would be upset with this. I bet he'd handle it well though. This is the same man who broadcasted the 1962 Mets, a team that finished last every year through 1967, the Mets of the late 1970s and early 1980s and the later teams I mentioned earlier. Would this team bother him, or would it just be recapped in another edition of Mets Yearbook? I think the latter. Though Mets fans have been blessed with a great TV broadcasting team of Cohen and former Mets Keith Hernandez and Ron Darling (and Bob Ojeda doing pre and post games), and Rose and Josh Lewin on radio, its hard not to miss the classic calls of Murphy. His call of the ball going through Bill Buckner's legs in 1986 and his Lenny Dykstra HR call over the Astros in the NLCS in the same year were two of my favorites. I remember sitting at home listening to the 1990 Mets/ Phillies game, the one that the Mets had leads of 9-0 and 10-3 (going into the 9th inning). I also remember it was Darling who was one of the relief pitchers in the game for the Mets. The Phillies had come back to make it 10-9 and had the tying and go-ahead runs on base. His call became one of his trademarks: "Here's the pitch on the way. Line drive -- caught! The game is over! The Mets win it! A line drive to Mario Diaz and the Mets win the ballgame! They win the damn thing by a score of 10 to 9!" Times like this make you miss his calls and the whole way he went about it. Some of us used Bob Murphy's birthday (September 19th) as a reminder that the season was almost over. At least some friends that watched the Mets in the early 1960s and late 1970s. Its amazing that its been over eight years that Bob Murphy has been gone.

On this date in 1996, the New York Mets traded 2B Jeff Kent and SS Jose Vizcaino to the Cleveland Indians for All Star 2B Carlos Baerga and SS Alvaro Espinosa. It was the second of three trades the Mets made for All Star 2Bs that did not work out. In 1989, the Mets traded OF Lenny Dykstra and RHP Roger McDowell to the Philadelphia Phillies for Juan Samuel and prior to the 2002 season, the Mets made another trade with Cleveland, this time adding now Hall of Famer Roberto Alomar. It really is amazing that all three never panned out with the Mets, but I think Baerga was as big of a disappointment as Alomar was. I know it is hard to compare this to the Alomar trade, made in the offseason which should be touted "The second worst team money could buy." But Baerga, similar to Alomar, was at the top of his game in Cleveland; prior to 1996 had hit over .300 the past 4 seasons with a .314 AVG in 1995. He was on a down year, hitting just .255 when he was traded to the Mets. But, he was still on a pace to drive in 75-80 runs with the 55 he had in at this point. He hit just .193 for the Mets for the rest of the season, driving in just 11 runs. The following season, he .281, 9, 52 in 133 games for the Mets and finished off his Mets career in 1998 .266, 7, 53 in 147 games. Nothing close to his numbers in Cleveland where he would have had 4 straight 100 RBI seasons had the 1994-1995 seasons not been shortened due to the players' strike. In 1992, he hit .312, 20, 105, with 205 hits, followed by .314, 21, 114 with 200 hits in 1993. Yet, it seems fans let him off the hook while criticizing the deals made for Samuel and Alomar. Its obvious the Samuel trade was made to accommodate Gregg Jefferies. The Alomar trade could not be expected to turn out as bad as it did, as anyone would make that deal again. I know Jeff Kent had his issues in NY. In fact, it wasn't until the Indians traded him to the Giants that he became the borderline HOF player he was. Baerga was on that pace and had to be considered the best player in that trade. I, for one, was excited to see him added to the lineup. Unfortunately, he was no better than a platoon player with the Mets and became a bench player once he left NY. He even missed two full MLB seasons in 2000 and 2001 before becoming a pinch hitter through 2005. To make matters worse, the Mets paid Baerga nearly $10 million in his 2 plus seasons with the Mets. What a disappointment!